My mom said pay yourself first at 23, I laughed at her for 4 years

When I got my first real job at 23 making $38k in Columbus, my mom sat me down and said pay yourself first, meaning move money to savings the second you get paid. I nodded and then did the exact opposite, spent my check down to like $40 by the 10th of each month and just waited for the next one. This went on for almost 4 years until my car died and I had to put a $1,900 repair on a credit card at 26 percent interest. That's when I finally did the math on what I'd blown. I ran the numbers in a notes app one night and if I'd moved just $150 a paycheck starting back then, I'd have had around $8,000 sitting there instead of $2,300 in card debt. I set up an auto transfer the next day and honestly it felt stupid how simple it was. Now I'm at $5,400 in that account and I check it way more than I should. Anyone else have a parent drop a money truth on them that took way too long to actually land?